Dear congregants,
We feel an overwhelming sense of heaviness. I call upon our faith that demands that we pursue peace, the same prayers on the lips of the rabbis, who, moments before the attack were uttering the final words of the prayers of theAmidah:“God who makes peace in the high heavens, bring peace to us on earth.”
A synagogue! During prayers! This is not a war between states that have political conflicts. This a war waged by extreme religious ideologies that know no borders, no political solutions, no sense of reason, no humanity. Savage.
I ask us to muster all the optimism that grace our hearts. I call upon us to summon stubborn and tenacious hope. Despite our pain, we must not surrender to despair, we must not become cynical. We cannot let our anger dictate our actions. And yet we must not be silent, cautious, and helpless.
This is a global war whose weapons and motivation are shared by a growing movement of Jihadists in Europe and the Middle East. And despite our tendency to try to keep our head down and go about our day, we are in the middle of it. I connect the beheadings of compassionate aid workers to the slaughter of rabbis during prayer. To the extremist, we are all infidels, Jew and Christian alike. No one asks our political point of view, for their war is a religious war.
I call upon all peoples of faith to speak to one another and raise the level of awareness of events during the past months above the sound bites of newscasters. I wish we could exchange land for peace. If only it were that simple. This is beyond politics, beyond government negotiations. I seek to stand shoulder to shoulder with Muslim and Christian faith leaders in Chicago to defy violent acts and extremism.
We begin with this courageous message from Pastor Chris Harris, who graced our Bimah a few weeks ago with a powerful message of hope and action based on empathy and mutual concern. Pastor Harris, your words mean everything to us.
Rabbi Karyn Kedar
Dear Friends,
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Psalm 122:6
What do you say when your friends are hurting? At least 'say something!' Dr. Martin Luther King said "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." When I read of the recent tragedy in Israel, I immediately thought of you and wanted you to know that "Israel Matters To Me, My Family & Community."
Over the past few years, my knowledge, love and concern for Israel and those closely connected to it has increased significantly. This feeling of connection and compassion is now spreading through my congregation/community in amazing and tangible ways. Our communities are talking together, working together and in times like these should be standing together with one voice against all vicious and barbaric acts of violence. Terrorism in any form should not be tolerated anywhere and the voice of the international community should be heard in solidarity when perpetrators choose to commit such atrocities.
In my opinion, saying something is good but doing something is even better. My community stands poised and ready to do whatever we can do to send a strong message that 'you are not alone.' We look to you to educate us on how we can best be of service to heal the wounds and know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and those (directly/indirectly) affected by this recent tragedy.
Please feel free to share this email with other friends of "our family" whose email addresses I do not have. Thanks.
"Doing What I Can; While I Can; With What I Have; Within HIS Will."
Pastor Chris Harris, Sr. (PCH)